


Building Blocks

by stubborngal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha/Omega, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Omega Keith (Voltron), Omega Verse, Post-War, Romantic Fluff, Sheithlentines 2019, Shiro (Voltron) is a Dork, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Stressed Shiro (Voltron), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, not canon compliant-looking at you s8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 20:51:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17794526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stubborngal/pseuds/stubborngal
Summary: Happy living among the stars, the Captain of the Atlas decides to give as much as Keith gives to him. And thus, Shiro's journey to offer Keith a place to call home, began.





	Building Blocks

**Author's Note:**

> ♥(ˆ⌣ˆ) Happy Sheithlentine's day to Kaii!! (idk how to put a link here, i apologize for that)   
> Hope you enjoy this little thing with plenty of fluff!!

 

The multiple repercussions the war left had called for them to assets the rising situations with an urgency that could not be postponed due to the growing distress calls the BoM, Atlas and the Coalition received throughout the galaxy. Because of how busy they both were, they kept postponing conversations and turning them into promises that ended up being words with little meaning.

Shiro was not fond of leaving their promises forever stagnant. His mate deserved so much more than his talking of better predicaments in a future that might never come can offer. Especially if they did not have the time, or in Shiro’s case make the time to fulfill them.

They were indeed happy living their lives among the stars. Fighting, flying, training and extending a helpful hand wherever they could reach.

It was a perfect merge of their dreams.

Nonetheless, Shiro wanted to give as much as Keith gives to him.

He wanted to give Keith something tangible, something that could offer Keith a sense of security, a grounding place of sorts.

As of now, they were splitting their lives between two places, the Atlas and the BoM HQ. And although the perks of having two places to stay and recharge with each other were nice to drop by, neither of them were truly theirs.

Shiro has pondered about many planets as a possible place to stay, basing his selection in Keith’s opinion. So far, all of them lacked something, which crossed them off the list as soon as the gleam in Keith’s eyes extenuated.

The sole common aspect all those planets have was the arid climate. At very least, it gave Shiro an idea of what Keith might want in a place to settle.

 

Settling down was not a topic they had spoken about and Shiro has found it funny how he could not see them doing it at all. Maybe they were not meant to settle down. Maybe they were going to live hopping around different places until one of them loses the privilege to do so.

It would had been fine and irrevocably ‘them’.

However, the need of keeping Keith secure and happy grew at an exuberant pace with the passing days.

At first, Shiro discarded the nagging feeling as his alpha nature slowly re-appearing, which was a good sign, considering everything he has gone through that enabled him to own his nature for all those years in and before captivity. Still, those gut feelings quickly began to morph until it ended positioned as a priority. That strong change did not faze the doctors as much as it did to him. In fact, the Atlas physician labeled it as a normal alpha trait, which was odd for Shiro since he had not experienced it in such an atmospheric range.

Unable to resist his strong instincts, lead Shiro to want to jump from one planet to another as soon as possible just to find the appropriated one for his mate; even his hands itched to get Keith and hop in Black to travel faster.

Naturally, Keith was quick to notice the difference in his attitude, and quicker to catch him before Shiro could wrangle his way out of that conversation.

To Shiro’s surprise, Keith was not baffled by his explanation, because his mate has been experiencing a similar reaction, causing him to get easily irritated when the planet was deemed inadequate for some—silly—reason.

The realization that they were reaching for the same goal in their own way warmed up their hearts.

 

From then on, everything seemed clearer and Shiro did not have to suspect that something was irrevocably wrong with him again or be wary when his traits began to take full priority in his life. Keith’s irritability, however, was a different story that generally ended with the two of them tangled up on the training mats or their bed. Whichever happened first.

 

After having spent three years in space, the Atlas returned to Earth for a full maintenance. There were so many new technologies, the crew and Katie gathered from different planets that would enhance various sectors of the Atlas if they were incorporated in the system, which would help even more to the work they’ve been doing following the war.

Albeit the arrival was very emotional for many of the crewmembers and team Voltron, for Keith and Shiro it was like any other time they had landed in a welcoming planet. Being less affected by leaving and less emotional of returning to the planet that brought them together and saw them come to life, did not mean they were devoid of excitement. They were delighted to see their friends reuniting with their own families after years of being incomplete. And at the same time, they were pleased to have another opportunity to observe the sunset on planet Earth again.

No matter where they watched the event, it brought the same memories back, of war and desperation, of the Garrison and hoverbike races, of solitude and trauma after Kerberos.

Regardless of how many times they have sat down in silence to witness it, or how unique it was in the vast universe, they found peace in the accidental connection. As Lance put it, sunsets were their thing.

 

The first day on Earth, they received three invitations to join their friend’s families for lunch, which they kindly accepted, as well as the promises to speak later and set the dates.

Shortly after Shiro summoned Keith and other important members of the Garrison for a long awaited debriefing.

By the time they concluded, they were too tired to do anything else besides taking a quick shower and dragging their bodies to their bed.

In the rest of their first week on Earth, they barely had time to breathe thanks to all the paperwork that reached Shiro’s hands and the petitions of third parties to meet team Voltron, more specifically, Keith.

That craziness extended for a couple of days more than they were expecting. Nonetheless, when they found themselves full of free time, they did not stop to think twice before jumping on a Garrison hoverbike and driving to their self-proclaimed spot in the dessert.

The arid dreamland with its sturdy giants welcomed them in its domain as they took a detour leaving a trail of smoky sand rise from the ground, proof of their visit.

Perched near the edge, they leant against the bike seeing bit by bit how the sunset ate away the blue to give the starring role to warmer hues.

Exhaling, Shiro parted his sight off the sky to look at Keith.

Far too much had changed and nothing at all did.

Nothing did. The softness in Keith’s expression did not waver, the unspoken rush for a chase stalled and when those starry eyes met his, Shiro knew. For them, it has to be on Earth.

Whether it be due to sentimentalism, nostalgia or a mix between the two, Keith chose Earth and by default, Shiro did too.

After the silent consensus of their hearts, Shiro began the hunt.

 

The first step was to gather information about any terrain around and in the dessert that might be up for sale. As one would expect, most of the terrains were outside of the dessert and closer to the city than to the Garrison’s grounds. Albeit Shiro did not fancy the idea, he still decided to advance to the second step, to pick a couple of places and go see them.

Blessed by the words “Keith, baby. I’m working on something.” Shiro managed to keep his mate at bay, but with a heavy suspicion of what Shiro was doing. Thankfully, Keith deemed it harmless and did not pester any further than the casual amount to pick on Shiro for how obvious he was.

 

None of the places was good enough.

Shiro pondered to find the reason behind his hostility towards each visited place. Most looked fine, some needed more than a coat of paint and others were plainly there to be demolished to become a brand new construction. Aside from those he also looked plain terrains, strongly considering buying one instead of a house.

Blinded by his urges to reach his goal, Shiro almost missed the tiny shack merging with the sight near the outskirts of the dessert.

He could not believe it has skipped his mind like a fleeting thought.

It has been so long since Shiro had put a foot there that even seeing it from afar brought images of when the team first reunited. When Keith was kind to offer Shiro his father’s clothes for him to dress after rescuing Shiro from Garrison’s ground.

The place was abandoned. No one seemed to have gotten their hands on the property but the extra junk on the yard, the broken windows and the missing door pointed out that it did not lack in unwanted and rude visitors.

It was worse from the inside. Peaking in from the missing door Shiro noticed that half of Keith’s belongings were gone. There were more holes on the walls than there were on the roof, and books and equipment alike were scattered on the floor as if someone had been looking for something. Probably of value.

Pressing his lips on a tight line Shiro decided to walk in.

It was the worst idea.

With a simple step, the floor gave in, creaking as his foot disappeared through the newly made hole on the weak floorboards. Sighing with a stern semblance due to his predicament, Shiro looked around one last time before he forced his foot out, breaking the chipped sides of the wood in the process. Shiro was going to leave the walls untouched. If possible, he did not want to break anything else.

In conclusion, it was in bad shape.

The foundations will need to be reinforced. He will have to dismantle and take down the walls. The roof will have to be replaced too.

His best shot would be to completely demolish it and start from scratch.

Regardless of the laborious tasks, there was little Shiro would not do for Keith. And if going through with a full renovation and transformation of Keith’s abandoned shack into a proper house might tug a smile on Keith’s face, Shiro would be pleased to take the challenge.

 

Acquiring the shack was the easiest step. Demolishing was simple too, but those were the only easy steps in the whole ordeal. Because once the terrain was in his possession Shiro found himself wrapped in a quandary of where and how to start without Keith finding out. After all, Shiro still wanted to keep the element of surprise. Even if Keith was already somewhat aware of Shiro’s intentions.

Complications presented to Shiro over and over again.

Tracing a vague idea of the blueprints for the new house on paper first, was the best decision. Yet, it was nearly impossible for Shiro to transfer the idea to a basic modelling program in his data pad. Ever persisting, Shiro stayed glued to his seat for hours on end, figuring out how to make a long rectangle. By the time he finally finished to do a single room house with roof, windows and a door; Shiro would be eighty.

Groaning, Shiro put the darn thing down and threw his head back. He could not afford to take that long. The idea was to use the free months left to advance as much as he could with the house before they have to go back to space.

The right way to proceed was to call for help.

 

Katie nearly choked on her food when Shiro showed her the poor model by accident. He wasn’t supposed to open the file. Actually, he should had deleted it beforehand. Still, the embarrassment warming up the tip of his ears was quickly replaced with a strangled sense of achievement after Shiro showed Katie the blueprints.

Within the spawn of three hours, Katie had transferred his full concept into a 3D model. All that was left was to furnish it and decorate it.

That took far longer than it should. Shiro just could not make his mind without having to try to tweak around the mock up furniture causing Katie’s patience to run thin. Eventually, she grew tired and chose to briefly explain to him how to move things around, leaving the tedious and personal task to Shiro before she wished him good luck and reminded him of dinner at the Holt’s house that weekend.

Never let it be known that he did, in fact, forgot about dinner with the Holts.

Without a doubt, consulting Pidge was the best course of action.

 

Playing with the tools, he was surely getting a grasp on the program. Spending a significant amount of hours selecting and moving from one seemingly finished room to another, Shiro must have taken quite a lot and been terribly concentrated in what he was doing not to hear the ‘swoosh’ of the opening door or the light steps coming from behind.

When a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, Shiro froze, eyes widening as recognition soared through his body. _Has he been busted already?_ Drenching in that thought, Shiro left his data pad facing the desk. Hoping Keith would not pry.

“It’s almost midnight, Takashi.”

Turning around to face him, Shiro looked at Keith. “It is?”

Keith’s brows pinched together and his gaze moved to the tablet. “Were you working?” the stern tone mingled with a worried one. “Did they really send you more work when you are supposed to be on vacation? We both agreed to take a look if it was of upmost importance or strictly necessary.”

“No, no,” Shiro batted his hands in front of him. “It’s nothing like that.”

Keith lifted an eyebrow. Then, interchanging looks between the data pad and Shiro, he asked “Oh. Is this—?”

“Yeah.” Shiro quickly responded, putting his hands down on his lap. He was busted.

Tugging at the ends of his mouth, Keith’s expression softened. “I’ll wait outside, then. Don’t take too long.” Placing a firm kiss on Shiro’s cheek, Keith gave him a pat on the shoulder and turned on his feet walking towards the door.

Shiro followed Keith’s figure with his gaze until he was no longer in sight.

He would have preferred to finish it all and then go to bed. However, he’d rather go to bed with Keith than make him wait in the hall, for who knows how long. Sighing, Shiro returned to the data pad and saved his files.

The next day, Shiro was proud to save the final model.

All that was left was getting a consultation with professionals and make that house a reality.

 

Finding a team that would work with him was almost ridiculous. As soon as Shiro began to search, consulting with colleagues and close friends, the interested seemed to pop up everywhere. Which drove Shiro into the chaos of getting customer reviews on each of them. At least, only the ones Shiro thought would work well with what he had in mind.

That selection hogged two full days. Nevertheless, he narrowed it down up to three architects and general contractor candidates to interview, until hiring one each.

From then on, the construction officially began.

Due to Shiro’s contractor, he was not needed to be there at all times nor to micromanage and have an eye over each individual and their jobs. Which was a rare but welcomed position to be in, especially when Shiro has grown accustomed to filling in those shoes with all he got. Regardless, Shiro could not sit still. He would go and check how everything was going once a week. He would rush to the house after one call, eagerness escaping from his pores.

How could Shiro not be eager, when he had been seeing the advances and changes of what was going to be their house with his own eyes for two months.

His undying excitement rubbed off on his mate, to the point Shiro could see it exuding Keith’s body through random spurs of affection. Not like Keith was not affectionate with him. Quite the contrary.

Often times—more than he would like to admit—Shiro was the one getting flustered by Keith fondness. How in the world could he not get nervous when a kiss on the cheek, a graze of his hands, the tender look he spare Shiro when their eyes met, the mellow tone Keith used when he said his name, and so many more where the cause of Shiro’s heart upsizing with his every breath.

Although two decades ago, Shiro took the reins of being a mentor for Keith, he also taught Shiro valuable life lessons that up to his present day, Shiro continued to follow and nurture. Because after life shoved him in the deepest corner of the abyss to fight for survival, Shiro kept afloat thanks to their welded memories. While his desperate desire to go beyond drove him back to the pod, and back to earth. Back to Keith.

The third month, however, brought a major setback.

Plumbing.

That was going to take longer than his contractor initially estimated which would stagnate the construction and therefore extend Shiro’s desired deadline.

Before disappointment and panic could freely roam in his mind, his contractor advised Shiro that instead of focusing on what they cannot yet do, they could diverge the effort into other parts of the house, contra resting the apparent loss with progress.

Without a doubt, Shiro accepted and thus everyone began to work a way around the mess as not to postpone nor stop the work in its entirety. That decision proved to be the right one when, two weeks later on his next visit, Shiro saw two out of five rooms with full walls ready to attach the doors and fit the windows.

Unable to hold back, Shiro filled Keith in on what happened—finally providing his mate with an explanation for his sudden mood change—by telling him that everything was going great.

Keith nodded, accepting his good news without inquiring for more information on the topic.

After a scare that should had not been a scare, Shiro relaxed a bit in regards of the house and prioritized his free time with Keith.

Although they didn’t lack in showing affection to the other, they were missing on the dating game. The official ones that’s it. Because according to thirds, getting lunch together, having dinner on Shiro’s office, sparring and hogging a huge chunk of the gym for ‘steamy’ sparring sessions counted as dates. But, when he talked to Keith and asked him about it, Keith looked at him utterly confused.

“Those count as dates?”

Shiro torn his gaze away for a second and shrugged. “I suppose?” He said. Nevertheless, those were not dates. Shiro was sure of it. He would’ve known, because he had dated before.

“…But, we always do those things.” Troubled, Keith tried to find the game changer that transformed their daily routine into dates.

Clearly, he found no such thing.

“Well…” Rolling his shoulders back, Shiro returned his sight to his mate. “Maybe, if you would like it, we could go out on dates.” Keith stared back at him. A tint of surprise bathed his eyes, sending Shiro’s heart into a warming tune. “We have plenty of time now. We could go somewhere else for a few days… what do you think?”

Keith smiled at him and Shiro knew it was not going to be a rejection. As if Keith would ever do such a thing. Except maybe turn down his burnt attempts at cooking, which was a clever decision.

 

The unusual knowledge that some of their outings were dates made them more nervous than they should’ve been. Shiro tried his best to not pass the tightening coil in his gut to Keith. Yet, at the start, they fidgeted and orbited around the other in trembling circles amid breathy chuckles and colored cheeks before the no sense of their actions came out into the light, taming the juvenile fluttering and offering a gentle rocking for them to immerse as they regained their composure.

Not all of their dates resulted with them going out to eat, watch the sun set or take a stroll around the market. Some were planned weekend trips to other sectors, to newer towns and cities on Earth. They would either, rent a vehicle to have that little peace and fun with the road trips or take black if it they wanted to explore beyond the Garrison grounds and the reconstructed city nearby.

Activities such as racing, camping and hiking became a staple for their adrenaline seeker core. And when they were feeling the itch in their palms, they would borrow and take off in the aircrafts for an amicable competition, incidentally gathering spectators.

Occasionally, they would be summoned to attend diplomatic matters, other times, Shiro would be called to partake into yet another meeting with Earth diplomats; and if Allura or Hunk could not be present, Keith would join him as a representative of team Voltron, much to his dismay. Although, Shiro could see Keith’s improvement thanks to the years of attendance to similar venues. However, that doesn’t equate Keith would suddenly grow fond of going. His mate still harbored a moderate dislike for it.

 

Half a year has passed before their eyes. The renovation was going well now that the problem with the plumbing was slowly resolving, they weren’t as much needed as the first half of the year and all that free time was perfect to not only be together as a couple but to spend time with their friends.

And what a time they spend. Shiro hasn’t had that many opportunities to play Monsters and Mana with the whole team, neither did Keith. One session had been enough for everyone to realize the barricade of flirty comebacks and remarks they had to witness due to the interactions of their characters.

The team was my no means thrilled by their discovery.

 

Their private and intimate life benefited from the lack of urgency in needing their presence or guidance to foresee every matter. It brought to light aspects rooted within their respective natures they have not being able to explore amid the ruckus of replenishing the universe.

Shiro knew that Keith had taken the decision to continue ingesting suppressants on behalf of the bigger picture as to not get in the way of their jobs. Shiro was aware of the reasons behind it, he understood why. Nonetheless, it never ceased to worry him. Even after he gave a sturdy step forward to reassure Keith that he could go without suppressants that he could take care of his heats, Shiro continued to worry.

How could he not worry? When amid the myriad of controlled chaos and paperwork Shiro could only spare little time to help Keith wane the fever of his heat and he would be lucky if his rut showed traces of still being there.

That conduct lasted for years, leaving them no space to dive deeper into the bond they had formed. Worse yet, they grew accustomed to it. Giving enough to calm down but not to fully satisfy.

However, after their arrival to Earth, after they had unwound and relaxed, their bodies began to react differently. Then, when Keith’s second heat arrived, it directly affected Shiro, coercing his rut to resurface after years or being suppressed.

It hit them with such a force they could not bear to be three feet apart before latching to the other to resume their avid activities.

Shiro’s mind was lost in haze, warmth and their mingling scents for five days straight. Unable to grasp how many times they had mated, how loud they were or if they had taken care of each other aside from their exposed needs. He could not imagine in the state Keith must had been.

Coming back to their senses, Shiro couldn’t crave more for their house to be finished. Being coped up in the Garrison quarters showed him how necessary that leap was.

Hopefully, by the end of the year, they will be moving to their new house.

 

The silent acknowledgement of what ensued for those days stayed in the memory of every cadet and crewmember that made use of the quarters. Shiro was mostly unfazed towards the obvious silence, while Keith was both irritated and embarrassed. A dangerous mix that spurted out as anger, which no one dared to face.

That was all it took for the whole mess to subside.

 

Since Shiro had been out of the public eye, taking care of Keith’s heat and his own rut, he had missed a couple of calls from his contractor. One or two would had been normal. However, ten missed calls were not.

_Something must had come up_ , Shiro thought, wrecking his head with the possible reasons. _Did the plumbing not work? Was it ready? It couldn’t be ready. It was too soon._ While Shiro jumped from one point to another, he borrowed a Garrison vehicle and drove to the house.

When he arrived and looking at it from the outside, Shiro did not spot anything different aside from the laborious advances.

Before he could put a foot inside de house, his contractor met him.

It turned out that the design of the doors that came were not the ones Shiro picked and the same occurred with the roof tiles. In the lights of that, his contractor wanted to confirm with Shiro first, if he had changed the order before contacting the company to solve the mess. Nonetheless, the latter reached them first and apologized claiming the situation to be nothing but a mistake from their part—they had confused Shiro’s last name ‘Shirogane’ with someone else called ‘Kurogane’ and sent the wrong products. After contacting the other customer, the company amended the mistake by making sure to send the packages to their proper customers, thus offering a satisfactory resolution for both parties.

 

Unbeknown to him, Keith was also keeping his own secret project but unlike Shiro, Keith managed to keep it as such. In spite of being blissfully unaware for who knows how long, two weeks? Perhaps one? Or maybe days? Shiro could not wrap his head around of what he was seeing. More like, he could not believe his eyes.

“It’s all yours,” Keith said gesturing with a jerk of his head towards the pristine hoverbike.

For a second, Shiro forgot he had to exhale, solely gawking at the bike. It was a white finished hoverbike with silver accents... For him…

Reluctantly tearing his gaze from the bike, Shiro stared at Keith, lips parted to ask why and how. Still, all that came out was a breathy, “Baby…”

Keith lips curled up. “What do you think?” He asked, walking closer to the hoverbike.

“It’s beautiful…” Grinning Shiro approached his brand new ride. Ghosting his fingers over the smooth dark fabric of the seat, he fixed his sight up to the blank panel at the front. He was aching to hop on. “Baby, you didn’t have to.” He said, voice watering.

“I wanted to.” Dropping his gaze, Keith said. “Besides, you are working so hard in that project of yours. I thought it would be nice to give you something too.” Touching Shiro’s bicep, he dragged his palm up to his neck. Letting his thumb caress the line of his jaw, he tenderly whispered. “You deserve it…”

Shiro turned his head to look at him as his chest swelled up with his words. “Keith…” At a loss of words to grasp the meaning of what Keith provoked in him, Shiro reached for his mate to cup his cheek in a treasuring silence.

Tilting his head onto Shiro’s palm, Keith smiled. “Enough of that captain. Don’t you want to take it out for a ride?”

Shiro’s face lit up hearing that suggestion while another grin tugged at his lips as he responded, “Only if I get to ride with you.”

Keith snorted and rolled his eyes, butchering the prior atmosphere. “I can’t believe you, Takashi.”

 “It wasn’t that bad, baby.” Shiro laughed.

Keith lightly shook his head. “It was you sap.”

Pleased, Shiro handed him a one of the helmets and secured the other on himself. Getting on the hoverbike he waited for Keith to hop on and accommodate before the panel came to life and the bike ascended, separating itself from the ground. Then, with a flick of the wrist, they took off into the dessert for a test ride that lasted hours.

They didn’t return to their quarters until the moon rose high above their heads and the stars gossiped among themselves twinkling in the background.

 

_Only a few months more_ , Shiro reminded himself as anticipation bubbled up in him, eager to give Keith the keys to their new home.

Every occasion Shiro was summoned to the house, which diluted with the passing days, pride grew within his chest. Witnessing the hard work that was put into their house as it took form prickled his eyes knowing they will have a place to spend their time and if they were lucky, a place to retire when they could no longer chase the stars across galaxies.

Shiro could picture it. He could see them trying to avoid retirement for as long as they could; parking the hoverbike in the garage next to the car Shiro would gladly began to think of purchasing. He could hear the laughter and meaningless bickering spurting from Shiro’s cooking only for Keith to ban him from touching the stove again.

All of those and many more sprinkled seeds of joy across the soil of his heart, making him want and yearn for the season they will start to sprout.

A house! They were going to have a house!

Never in his whole life, had Shiro sought to acquire a house. A flat had crossed his mind before Kerberos but… A house? No, never.

As far as Shiro was concerned, he wouldn’t need to own one, busy with the Garrison and living as if the next day would be his last. It didn’t make sense to get a house, even if it was for himself. With Keith however, that changed.

 

That noon, Shiro saved the date after the final visit to bring Keith to the house. That was a plan he was not going to miss.

Or so he thought.

One would think that simultaneously receiving good and bad news was an average occurrence. Yet, receiving both in a perfectly knitted phrase was not. Therefore, when Iverson informed him that the Atlas would be ready to take off in four days, Shiro couldn’t grasp his usual excitement and gratitude towards the news to answer the man with honesty. He was torn and as such, Shiro simply gave him a watered down smile followed by a dry thanks.

He didn’t have time to fret over his strange luck. Instead, Shiro diverged his frustration to seek for a new plan.

On one side, he could not pass the chance to surprise Keith with the house, when it was unknown the number of years they would spend in space, and showing him pictures of it only left a cheap taste in his mouth. He couldn’t do him dirty like that.

Now, on the other hand, there was no way Shiro could delay the launch for a full month, let alone two, which was the spawn of time for the house to be finished.

Sighing, Shiro was quick to recognize the position he was put in.

He was going to have to come up with a third option in less than a day. Thus, Shiro devoted to formulating it throughout the day. Avoiding the borderline ridiculous ones, Shiro grouped up the rest. Although none managed to completely convince him, Shiro could not give himself the privilege to be picky, so, he chose the closest to the middle point between both plans and put it in action.

Getting in contact with his contractor, Shiro delivered the change of plans, explaining the reason behind it, hoping he will allow a tour of the house without disturbing everyone’s work. Albeit his contractor was as bummed out as Shiro, he still gave Shiro the green light to proceed with his new plan. Shiro could not be more thankful of his consideration.

Besides, it wasn’t a terribly flawed option, just scarred enough to be somewhat agreeable.

 

The day before the launch, after delivering an uplifting and hopeful speech to the crew, Shiro dismissed everyone to spend the rest of the day how all of them saw fit. Following his own words to the letter, Shiro started by taking Keith out for lunch.

They strolled hand in hand through the main street that harbored various restaurants, cafes and food carts of all types. Guided by Keith’s nose and yet, with nothing in mind on what to eat, they looked around, stopping in front of a few food tracks and restaurants that spiked—mostly Keith’s—interest to considered their options.

Upon scrutinizing dishes by name and pictures, they came to a narrow two-floor restaurant, which enchanted their appetites with the delectable aroma of baked dough and cheap cheese.

Without a second thought, they went in. The waft of the scent hit them in the gut enhancing their hunger with ease and rushing them to order the special of the day: pasta pizza casserole.

Nearing the end of their lunch date, Shiro’s phone buzzed inside the left pocket of his jacket. In a flowed beat, he fetched and checked it. The end of his lips went up after eyeing the short text that saluted him on the screen.

Bursting with anticipation, Shiro dragged Keith along to other places, quaint shops full of small items that could be taken as souvenirs for family and friends. Hats, iridescent keychains, rocks, holographic cards and confined soil in miniature bottles from other planets decorated the racks playing the part of treasures to a tourist eyes.

After getting lost in the loud streets filled with shops, they returned to the parking spot by foot, ready to move to the next destination. Hopping onto the hoverbike, Shiro turned the bike on, proceeding to take Keith on a ride by choosing the long road to their last stop.

As Shiro drove pass the closets house, fifteen minutes from theirs, they could visualize the nostalgic shape the building held, appealing to the poignant sentiment through its structure and almost desolated localization.

Among the newer models that littered the re founded cities and towns, Shiro’s pick was a treat to the eyes, particularly for those who craved brush strokes of old times in a world that was forced and unprepared to morph to what it was in a spawn of a year.

 

Hibernating the motor in front of the house, Shiro took his helmet off and ruffled his straight mop of hair. “This is it, Keith.”

In a methodical, almost cautionary way, Keith descended from the seat of the bike, eyes locked on what it was in front of him. “… Takashi… what is—” Ridding himself of the helmet, Keith gave a teetering step forward. “Is this—” Chopped and incomplete questions came one after the other, inquiring as if doubting on what he was seeing was a needed action to start to believe, to trust.

Shiro walked up to his side and wrapped his altean arm around his shoulders. He smiled and said in a lowered tone, only meant for Keith to hear. “Surprise, baby.”

Stricken and numb, the helmet slipped from Keith’s grasp, crashing with the ground in a solid ‘thud’. “…Shiro!” Turning his whole body around, Keith bored his sight into Shiro searching for what he ought to believe it was missing. A clarification, a strong willed reason, anything that could convince him it was real, that their life was indeed being peppered in joy.

Shiro’s smile widened, brightening up by Keith’s unabashed overwhelm.

Yanking Shiro close into a tight embrace with an out of this world strength, Keith trapped him in his arms.

Words did not suffice. And Shiro was happy to receive what his mate was offering.

After a crystalized moment of hearing a shuddering breath and a rabid heart, Shiro felt the prickling caress of Keith breath in the crook of his neck prior to his deep voice. “Thank you…Takashi—” swallowing the knot tangled with his phrases, Keith buried his face in the perfumed conjecture of Shiro’s scent. “You really didn’t have to… Gosh, Takashi.” Drowning his nose against the fabric of his jacket, Keith nuzzled him. “I can’t believe you just did this.”

Hearing the melody of his chuckle, Shiro added notes of his own. “I did. Besides, you deserve to have a place to call home.”

“…You are my home Takashi,” pulling back, Keith looked at Shiro as tears gathered at the corner of his eyes, “have been for a long time.”

Rose stardust scattered across Shiro’s cheek as his fingertips caught one of his shed tears, wiping the wetness with a tender move. “You are mine too, baby.”

Keith chuckled. “You really are a sap,” gazing at the house as some workers walked out, Keith repeated. “Still, can’t believe you actually got us a house.”

Proud of having evoking Keith’s smile, Shiro replied. “It’s not finished yet. But do you want me to give you a tour?”

“Can we?”

With a single jerk of his head as an answer, Shiro broke the embrace and picked the helmet of the ground.

Unbothered by the company of the many workers, Shiro showed Keith every single room as flawed and incomplete as it was. Regardless the state each room held, Keith eyes wandered from wall to ceiling, from the little hall to the staircase, observing everything with a vast interest that illuminated his face.

The blank white of the walls and the earthy brown of the wooden panels left a variety of options for them to paint and color their space, to make the house theirs in its entirety.

In the end, Shiro achieved his goal of making Keith smile by purchasing a house. Nonetheless, he was taken by surprise when amid the crowd of employees Keith rendered him speechless with a heartfelt kiss.

Shiro’s hands couldn’t be full at a worse time.

 

The next day, they took off into deep space in the Atlas.

Once the twenty-eight day came, they had to part ways. However, with the copy of their keys dangling around their necks secured under their uniform as a reminder of what was waiting for them back on Earth, spending months or years apart from each other was a mere child’s play.

 

 


End file.
